


Random Meetings

by Rod13369



Category: Captain Marvel (2019), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossover, F/F, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:07:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,175
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23745031
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rod13369/pseuds/Rod13369
Summary: Carol Danvers is spending a quiet evening at home when a stranger literally falls out of the sky in her backyard.Post-Endgame, post-season 5 of Supergirl.
Relationships: Carol Danvers & Kara Danvers, Carol Danvers/Maria Rambeau, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 20
Kudos: 345





	Random Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> I have no explanation for this other than I spent yesterday working on a Supergirl fanfic piece and then watched Captain Marvel last night. I literally woke up with this story in my head and have spent the better part of the day writing it.
> 
> This story takes place a couple of years after the events of Supergirl season 5. Therefore, Kara and Lena have kissed and made up.

The first stars have just appeared when the oddest noise rips through the sky, a kind of liquid tearing followed by the rushing of a waterfall. At least, that’s the best description Carol Danvers can come up with as she bolts up from her seat on the back porch. “What the _hell…_ ” Maria asks, also sitting upright. Carol can’t answer; whatever it is, it’s LOUD. It also doesn’t last very long. Carol barely gets an aural fix on its location before it cuts off, her head still turning that direction as the sound disappears. Another sound immediately replaces it, one that Carol knows all too well: A body flying through the air at great speed. As fast as the thought appears, a dark mass streaks across Carol’s vision, level with the tops of the trees that line the back of the property. Whoever it is starts dipping below the canopy; something about their flight path makes Carol think the person isn’t quite in control of their trajectory. Injured, maybe? Carol looks over at Maria. Her wife nods in immediate understanding. “Go.” Carol offers a quick smile before rolling off the lounge chair and jumping into the sky.

Broken tree branches mark the stranger’s path, lower and lower down on trees as they tumbled out of the sky. _Injured, yes, possibly unconscious._ Carol winces as she passes a small _tree_ felled by the errant flyer; no way that didn’t hurt. Just beyond the splintered trunk, a furrow appears in the earth, dirt and debris piled on either side. Not long after that, Carol finds the body. She lands a little ways away and cautiously approaches on foot. She sees no movement at first, just a mass of red and blue fabric and blond hair. “Hello?” she calls softly, not wanting to provoke anything. No response.

Carol steps closer, mindful of the debris scattered under her bare feet. Her powers mean she heals fast, but better to avoid injury altogether. “Hello,” she calls again, a little louder this time. Again, nothing. Carol looks around, grabs a small branch, and uses it to gently prod the body’s shoulder. Still no response. Nothing for it, then. Carol moves closer, kneels down, grabs one blue-clad arm, and rolls the person onto their back.

Immediately, Carol realizes that, however human this person appears, they likely aren’t. Carol knows that humans come in many shapes and sizes, but this body is simply too heavy and dense to be from Earth. Other than that, though, Carol can’t tell what race they may be. Now that Carol can see more of them, she realizes the person is a young woman, her form-fitting outfit revealing impressive muscles. A large S enclosed in a stylized diamond shape adorns her chest; a crest of some kind? The legs of the suit disappear into red, knee-high boots, while the sleeves extend to her fingers, with holes cut for her thumbs. A red cape and golden belt complete the ensemble. Carol’s sure the outfit looks a lot better without the layer of dirt, but it’s impressive nonetheless. In Carol’s experience, this type of getup means the person is either a superhero or a bad guy, and she’s been at this long enough to not immediately dismiss either possibility. Good news/bad news: Carol can see the woman’s chest rise and fall. She’s alive, whoever she is, but without her own suit Carol can’t determine anything more than that.

Keeping an eye on the woman and one hand aimed her way, Carol digs into her jeans pocket. She’ll call Maria, get her to help move the woman to the house, then get dressed and take her to the Avengers’ compound in New York. More resources to work with there… Carol is just about to dial when the stranger groans.

Immediately, Carol’s hand glows. “Easy,” she tells the young woman, who groans again. “Can you open your eyes?” The stranger blinks a couple of times and turns her head slightly towards Carol. Carol gets a glimpse of clear blue eyes before said eyes start to literally _glow_ with an intense white light. “Hey!” Carol lifts her hand higher, ready to strike. “Easy! I want to help you.”

The standoff lasts another tense moment before the stranger’s eyes stop glowing. “Who are you? Where am I?”

Carol lowers her hand, letting the glow mostly die away. “I’m Carol. You’re in Louisiana. Do you know how you got here?”

The stranger’s eyes close again and a pained look flashes across her features. “There was a battle. I was flying. Something hit me, sent me tumbling.”

“A battle?” Carol looks sharply at her. “Where? Who were you fighting?”

“Over National City. This meta--”

_“Where?”_

“National City.”

“Never heard of it.”

The woman’s eyes pop open, a concerned look on her face. “You’ve never heard of National City.” Carol shakes her head. “What about Metropolis? Gotham? Central City?” Carol can only shrug; none of those names sound familiar. The young woman looks around, clearly thinking. “You did say this is Louisiana, though, right?”

Carol nods, but the woman doesn’t say anything more, clearly lost in thought. “Look,” Carol eventually breaks the silence, “I don’t know anything about those places you just named. But right now, you’re clearly injured. I think I know some people that can help you, but first you’ve got to promise me that you won’t hurt anyone.”

The blonde looks at her warily. “How do I know you’re not a villain?”

“You don’t,” Carol replies, offering a small smile. “Just like I don’t know you’re not. But,” she relaxes, letting her power flow out of her hand so that it stops glowing, “I give you my word: Don’t hurt me or mine, and they won’t hurt you.”

Blondie thinks on it for a moment. “Deal.”

Carol nods and reaches for her phone again. “I’m going to call someone, have them bring a car--”

“No, no, I can move.” Blondie pushes herself to a sitting position. “Just tell me where to go.”

Carol notes the slight wobble as she sits up and almost protests, but hey, if the woman thinks she’s good to go, who is Carol to stop her? “Are you up to flying? It’ll be a bit of a walk, otherwise.” Blondie nods and accepts Carol’s help in getting to her feet. They’re the same height, although Carol notes once again that Blondie definitely has the edge in mass. “What do I call you?” Carol asks.

Blondie gives her a quick, surprised look, then shakes her head. “Right. Uh, I’m Kara.”

“Nice to meet you, Kara.” Carol feels her power moving around, pushing her off the ground. Kara’s eyes widen a little, but she starts floating, too. “This way.” Carol turns and swoops off towards her house, the stranger close behind.

They land in the back yard. Carol notes the way Maria’s hand ducks under the lounge chair as they approach; clearly, her wife had brought one of her “insurance policies” outside after Carol took off. Carol gives her their private “okay” signal as she lands, and Maria’s hand reappears, empty. Carol smiles quickly before looking back as their guest touches down. She motions for Kara to follow her to the house.

“Who’s your new friend, Carol?” Maria asks when they reach the porch.

“Maria, this is Kara. Kara, Maria.”

“Hi,” Kara says, stepping forward and offering her hand.

Maria takes it and gives Kara a very obvious once over. “Hi. Nice suit.”

“Thanks.” Kara offers a small smile.

“I need to take Kara to the compound,” Carol says, pulling Maria’s attention back to her. “Can you keep her company while I change?”

“Sure,” Maria nods before turning to the other blonde. “Maybe you’d like to clean up a little, too?”

Kara offers a relieved smile and nod, so all three troop inside. Maria directs Kara to the downstairs bathroom while Carol heads up to change. Carol returns five minutes later to find Kara standing by the front door, face and hands noticeably cleaner. Kara’s eyebrows shoot up when she sees Carol. Carol can’t help laughing at the reaction. “You act like you never saw a superhero.”

“Not one that looks like you,” Kara replies. Carol’s eyes narrow slightly at the odd tone of Kara’s voice. “What do people call you?”

“Captain Marvel. You?”

“Supergirl.”

“Girl?” Maria appears next to Carol. “Not Superwoman?”

“There was this whole thing, and it just kind of stuck,” Kara says, shaking her head.

Carol feels sure there’s more to that story, but now’s definitely not the time. “Come on, we’ve got a bit of a flight ahead of us.” She turns to Maria. “I’ll call when I’m on my way home.”

Maria nods. “Be safe.” She doesn’t kiss Carol; decades of habit keep them from being so open in front of strangers. But Carol can tell by the look in her eyes that she wants to.

“I will,” Carol promises, knowing Maria can tell how much Carol wants to kiss her, too. She tears her eyes away after a moment and motions for Kara to follow her out. They exit through the back door again, away from the eyes of the neighbors. Carol leads Kara into the trees a bit. “You sure you’re good to fly?” Kara nods. “Alrighty then.” A second later, Captain Marvel streaks off into the twilight, with Supergirl close behind.

Carol called ahead, so the Welcome Wagon awaits when they land at the Avengers’ compound: Wilson, Rhodey, Bruce, and, to Carol’s delight, Fury. “When did you get back?” she asks, promptly enfolding the man in a hug.

“Classified,” he cheerily tells her, laughing when she pulls back and (sort of) gently punches him in the shoulder.

Carol rolls her eyes and turns to the other three, greeting them quickly before gesturing for Kara to step forward. Supergirl introduces herself, taking the sight of a tall, green man in stride, and Wilson moves the gathering indoors. He leads them to a small conference room, one of the few in the building that hasn’t been co-opted as someone’s research space. From there, Fury takes over.

“Danvers says—” Kara lets out a surprised squeak, cutting Fury off. “Something wrong?”

“I’m sorry, who are you talking about?”

“Carol Danvers, the lady that brought you here.”

Kara lets out a slightly hysterical laugh. “My bad. Sorry, you were saying?”

Fury doesn’t want to let it drop. “What’s so funny about that name?” Carol joins him, and the others, in staring at the new face.

Kara flushes, but meets their combined gaze. “My adopted family’s last name is also Danvers, that’s all.”

“Hell of a coincidence,” Rhodey states.

Fury nods, studying Kara. “Like I was saying, the Captain here says you seemed a bit lost. Mentioned some places that, as far as we can tell, don’t exist.”

“Oh, they exist,” Kara states. “Just not on this Earth.”

Silence reigns for a moment. “Wait,” Banner finally says, “you mean you’re from an alternate Earth?”

“Yup,” the girl replies, looking completely unfazed by this statement.

“Alternate Earth?” Fury asks the room at large.

“Theory of the multiverse,” Banner says. “A universe exists for each decision anyone’s ever made.”

Fury mulls that one over for a moment. Carol takes the opportunity to ask a question of her own. “You’re adopted? Where are you originally from?”

“Oh, uh, Iceland?” Carol gives Kara a look, the one she gives Monica when the kid tries to get away with a lie. It works on Kara, too. “Um, I’m guessing you all know that there’s such things as aliens, right?”

“We’re aware,” Fury says, drily.

“And that some of them, a lot of them, actually look very similar to humans?”

“Not as many as you’d think,” Carol states.

Kara pauses, nods in agreement. “True. Um, anyway, I’m from another planet.”

Carol nods, her earlier suspicions confirmed. “Cool. What’s it called?”

“Krypton.”

“Like the element?” Banner asks.

“Um, yeah, actually. Spelled the same, anyway.” Kara looks around, a cautiously pleased look on her face. “You’re all taking this really well.”

“We’ve had our share of run-ins with aliens over the last few years,” Rhodey states. “Never met a… Kryptonese?... before, though.”

“Kryptonian,” Kara corrects. “And you probably wouldn’t have. I don’t even know if my planet existed… _exists_ in this universe.”

Carol can tell everyone else caught the slip, too. “Existed?”

Kara’s shoulders slump a little. “My planet was destroyed when I was a child. I’m one of a handful of survivors.”

Another silence, this one much heavier. “I’m sorry,” Carol finally manages. She remembers the five years between Snaps, thinking her loved ones were gone for good. She was lucky enough to get them back, but she knows exactly how Kara feels. Kara accepts her apology with a small nod and a sad smile. “I’ve never heard of Krypton,” Carol continues, pulling things back on track. “I’m not saying I know _every_ planet in every galaxy, but I feel like I would have heard about a planet with people who can fly and make their eyes glow.”

“Glowing eyes?” Fury inquires, looking at Kara.

Supergirl flushes. “My heat vision. You startled me!”

Carol waves off Fury’s curiosity. “My point still stands. I’ve never heard of people like you, and I think I would have.”

“Well, my powers only manifest under a yellow sun, so…” Kara shrugs.

Banner immediately perks up, ready to unleash a string of technobabble science questions (Carol knows the look). Thankfully, Fury cuts that off. “So how did you end up on this particular Earth?”

Kara launches into a story about battling some rogue metahuman (something like a mutant or Inhuman, Carol gathers), which apparently required help from several other superheroes that Kara knows. One of these heroes has the ability to open “breaches”, literal holes in the space-time continuum. “Unfortunately, Ditto, that’s what this meta named herself, can copy other metas’ abilities. She opened her own breach, and used my friend’s super speed to sneak up on me and throw me through.”

“So how do you get back?” Wilson asks. “I mean, you can’t open a breach by yourself, right?”

Kara nods dejectedly before suddenly sitting up straight. “Wait a second! Brainy said he put a tracker on me!”

“A tracker that lets him find you across universes?” Rhodey asks, highly skeptical.

Meanwhile, Kara has scooted her chair back from the table and is fingering her belt. “Uh huh. He based it off the interdimensional extrapolater Cisco built for me a few years ago. It’s got to be here somewhere…” She keeps poking at the belt, missing the bemused looks the Avengers share. “Ah ha!” The young woman holds up a small piece of golden metal, about the size of her pinky. She turns it over, and Carol notices several blue blinking lights on the other side. “I can’t believe I didn’t remember it before now.”

“Well, you did have a bit of a rough landing,” Carol reminds her.

Kara nods in agreement. “True. But as long as this thing keeps working, my friends will be able to find me.” No sooner do the words leave her mouth than two of the lights stop blinking. “Uh… any chance one of you can help me?”

Fury has Banner take the tracker to the lab, with instructions to keep it running. Carol knows the big guy can do it; after all, he kept Fury’s pager going long after the crappy battery should have given out. Wilson and Rhodey disappear to take care of paperwork. Fury tries to get Carol to take Kara to the infirmary. He claims it as common courtesy, but Carol and Kara know better: He wants as much information on Kara and her abilities as he can get. “It won’t do you any good,” Kara tells him. “My skin is impenetrable. Unless you have some yellow sun lamps, there’s nothing your doctor can do for me.”

Fury finally relents and tells Carol to keep an eye on the young woman before wandering off to do something or other. “You do know what ‘retired’ means, right?” Carol teases her friend before he leaves. He just laughs at her. “So,” Carol turns to the other blonde, “anything in particular you want to do while you wait for your friends?”

Kara’s stomach rumbles particularly loudly. “Um, got anything to eat?” she asks, blushing.

Carol just laughs and leads her to the kitchen. She shows Kara where everything is, fixing herself a plate as she does. “So,” she says as they settle in at the table, “you’re super strong, can fly, and have heat vision. Any other powers? Aside from the super appetite, I mean.” She motions to Kara’s plate, loaded with enough food to feed at least two regular humans.

Kara laughs. “I have a high metabolism! Alex calculated at one point that I have to eat something like 10,000 calories a day.”

“Alex?”

“My sister. Adopted sister.” Kara makes a happy sound as she bites into her sandwich. “Did Fury put you up to this?”

“I can neither confirm nor deny that statement.” Carol congratulates herself on her deadpan delivery.

Kara snorts. “You sound just like Alex!” She chews for a bit. “Yes, I have other powers. I’m super-fast and have enhanced senses, x-ray vision, and freeze breath.”

“Really?” Kara smiles before very deliberately blowing on Carol’s water glass. The contents instantly freezes. “Cool. Literally.”

Kara’s grin widens. “What about you? Why do you… glow?”

Carol gives her a very-shortened version of the events that led to her becoming a superhero. This, in turn, leads to Kara sharing how she’d started her own career of saving the day, and soon they’re swapping stories about fighting crime both on and off Earth.

“Can I ask you something?” Kara says during a pause in the conversation.

Carol immediately feels a little wary. “I may not answer, but sure.”

Kara nods. “Back in the conference room, when I mentioned that Krypton was destroyed… All of you got this look, like you knew _exactly_ what I meant about being a survivor. What… what happened?”

Carol takes a moment before answering. “A long time ago, this crazy alien named Thanos decided that the universe was out of balance. He also decided that he was the only one who could restore that balance. So he set about collecting these special stones. Each stone is powerful on its own. Combining them allows someone to impose their own will on the universe. Six years ago, he finally got the last stone. He used them to wipe out half of all life in the universe.” Even now, the memories hurt enough that Carol has to stop talking for a moment. Across the table, Kara looks equally devastated. “The other Avengers and I… we went after Thanos. Killed him. But it was too late. I lost my best friend, my daughter, my _wife_ …” Carol’s throat closes up. She takes a couple of deep breaths before continuing.

“I’m so sorry,” Kara says, and Carol can _feel_ the empathy in her words. This kid gets it. “But, when I landed, you…”

Carol smiles. “Yeah, I got them all back. Last year, the remaining Avengers managed to get _everyone_ back. And we made sure it couldn’t happen again.”

“For years,” Kara says, slowly, “I thought I was one of only two people who survived the death of my planet. When I found out there were more of us… That my _mother_ had survived…”

Carol can’t relate about the parent thing, but damn, she understands being happy to find out she’s not alone. “It’s a nice feeling, isn’t it?”

Kara nods. Silence falls again. It lasts a little longer this time before Kara gets a thoughtful look on her face. “How long ago did this Thanos start planning to restore balance to the universe?”

“No idea. Why?”

“A few years ago, there was this crisis. My friends and I, we kind of witnessed the death of the multiverse.”

Carol’s eyebrows shoot up. “Excuse me?”

“At least, that was how I understood it. It certainly felt real enough at the time. But a friend of mine was able to re-start things. I guess a new multiverse would have grown from that? Since he re-started time from the beginning, that could explain how your universe looks so different from mine.”

Carol’s head starts to hurt. “My knowledge of science begins and ends with how to fly a plane. And enough exobiology to know how to take out a few dozen species.”

Kara smiles. “You would get along really well with Alex.”

An alarm blares to life, startling them both. “Captain Danvers to the lab!” Friday announces. Carol is up out of her seat before the AI finishes speaking, Kara close behind. In her head, Carol thanks Stark for his foresight in building this place: The corridors are wide enough she can literally fly, perfect for situations like this.

They arrive at Banner’s lab to find Banner facing off with two strangers. Both women, both brunettes. One has an odd-looking gun pointed at Banner, clearly ready to fire if he moves wrong. The other bends over the workbench, examining Kara’s beacon. The one with the gun shifts to cover Carol as she flies in. “Whoa! Hey! We’re all friends here!” Carol holds up her still-glowing hands and lowers herself to the ground.

“Then you won’t mind telling me where—Kara!” The gun lowers slightly as Kara suddenly appears in front of Carol. _Well, she did say she was fast._

“Stand down, Alex! They’re friends!” Carol slowly steps around the younger blonde, nodding her agreement. Thankfully, Alex listens to her sister and lowers the gun, although she doesn’t holster it. Kara turns and catches sight of the other woman. “Lena! What are--”

“She insisted,” Alex cuts Kara off, still keeping a wary eye on Carol and Banner. The other woman has turned to face them, and Carol gets a glimpse of brilliant green eyes before she’s running towards Kara. Kara fades back slightly but still lets the other woman wrap her in a tight hug.

“You disappeared, and I was so worried…”

Kara wraps her arms around the smaller woman. “Hey I’m here. I’m fine.” She looks at Banner, then Carol. “They’ve been helping me.” She locks eyes again with Alex, looking pointedly at the gun still in her hand.

Alex opens her mouth, but whatever she’s going to say gets cut off by Fury’s voice blaring from Carol’s communicator. “Danvers! Sitrep!”

Alex and Lena both startle at that. Carol motions that everything is fine before raising her wrist to respond. “All clear, sir. Supergirl’s family just arrived. I repeat, all clear.”

“Understood. Give her my best.”

“Will do sir. Out.” Carol turns off the communicator before taking a step forward and offering her hand to Alex. “Hi. I’m Carol Danvers. I’ve been keeping an eye on your sister.”

Kara and her family don’t stick around for very long after that. For once, Fury _listens_ to Carol and stays away from Banner’s lab. Once introductions are done, Lena and Banner spend a solid ten minutes talking about what, exactly, had gone wrong with Kara’s beacon. Carol doesn’t even attempt to follow that discussion, instead letting Kara pull her into conversation with Alex. The three of them share a quick laugh about their mutual last name, then Carol asks to see Alex’s gun, and Alex wants to know about Carol’s glowing hands, and yes, Kara was right, the two of them get along quite well. Carol catches Kara ginning at them several times. She also notices that Lena hasn’t let go of Kara’s hand this whole time, not that Kara seems to mind too much. Soon enough, though, Alex starts looking impatient. Banner disconnects Kara’s beacon and returns it to her as Lena activates her own. Carol recognizes the sound from earlier in the evening, although this time around it’s much quieter and she can actually _see_ the source. What a sight it is, too. The breach looks like nothing more than a hole in the air surrounded by a waterfall that writhes constantly without actually going anywhere.

“Thanks for everything, Carol,” Kara says, offering her hand.

“You’re welcome,” Carol replies, taking it. Just for fun, she squeezes as hard as she can, laughing when Kara merely smiles back at her. “Feel free to swing by again, just, you know, without the dramatic entrance.”

“No promises!” Kara gives her a cheeky grin. With a final wave to Banner, the young hero turns and walks through the breach with her family. A couple of seconds after they disappear, the breach collapses in on itself.

Carol thanks Banner before heading out. She calls Fury on the way, promises him a proper debrief the next day, teases him again about not actually understanding what it means to be retired, and invites him to dinner at hers & Maria’s now that he’s back. She calls Maria as she takes off, enjoying the cool wind on her face. “Hey baby. I’m on my way home.”


End file.
